Posts Tagged ‘gun violence’

That’s the plea for the third year straight of Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E., an empowered group begun by five broken-hearted Harlem mothers who lost their sons to gun violence.

Their goal is to provide positive alternatives, specifically basketball, to keep teenage boys away from the street’s vices.

To support them, Catholic Charities will once again host a basketball tournament at our Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Memorial Center during the mid-winter school recess, starting today, February 16, and ending Friday, February, 20, 2015. The tournament this year will be offered exclusively to teens detained in local juvenile facilities.

February is the toughest month, Jackie Rowe-Adams tells Msgr. Kevin Sullivan during their conversation aired on JustLove on February 23. Her two sons were shot dead in Harlem, one 15 years ago, one 30 years ago and both in February. They died for no good reason, just crazy gun violence.

“Who’s giving our kids all these guns?” she asks. “We have to take charge, take back our kids, take back our community.”

Ms. Rowe-Adams confronted National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre at the group’s convention in April, she told Msgr. Sullivan, and heard back from him this month after the Newtown, Connecticut elementary school shooting.

Listen to JustLove, the Catholic Channel, to learn more about how Harlem mothers are fighting gun violence and the support they receive from Catholic Charities.

JustLove airs weekly on Saturday at 10 am EST on SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio on The Catholic Channel 129.